Third rail.



No. 782,007. PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. L. T. CRABTRBE.

THIRD RAIL.

APPLICATION HLED APB.. 14, 1904.

Y q b. a2? ,29,34 up] ai 7- Patented February 7, 1905.

UNTTED STATES PATENT UEEICE.

LEONARD TRACY CRABTREE, OF GRANDON, 1V ISCONSlN.

THIRD RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,007, dated February '7, 1905.

Application iiled April 14. 1904. Serial No. 203.116.

To 11]/ zl'mm/ it 11i/my concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD TRACY GRAB- Tinn, a citizen of the United States, and a i'esiwhich supplies energy to the system.

dent of Urandon, in the county of Forest and State of ll'isconsin, have invented a new and Vlmpi'oved Third Rail, of which the following' is a full, clear, and exact description.

Uy invention i'elates to third rails, my more particular object being' to produce a third rail which is made in sections which are energized independently of each other, the only portion of the i'ail energized at a time being' that immediately under the car.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying' drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding' parts in all the figures.

Fig'u re 1 is a sectional side elevation of a portion of a railway embodying my improved third rail. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section upon the line 3 3 of Fig'. 2 looking' in the direction of the arrow. Fig'. 3 isa section upon the line i el: of Fie'. Q looking in the direction of the arrow. B ig'. l is a section upon the line 5 5 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig'. 5 is a vertical section upon the line 6 6 of Fig'. 8 looking in the direction of the ai'- row. Fig'. 6 is a section upon the line 7 7 of Fig'. 6 looking'in the direction of the ai'i'ow, the contact-lever being' removed. Fig'. Tis a somei what `similar section showing' a contact-lever in position and the magnet suspended thereover; and Fig. S isa somewhat similar crosssection, but showing' a protecting' metallic trough in which the third i'ail and its accompanying parts are mounted.

'lhe car-bod y is shown at 9 and is mounted upon. wheels ll), engaging' service-rails 11, these service-rails resting upon cross-ties 1Q in the usual manner. A rail-support 13 rests directly upon the cross-ties 12, as indicated in Fig. 3. lf desired, however, this i'ail-support may be partially inelosed within a ti'oug'h-like metallic member la, which in turn rests upon the cross-ties and may be provided with a flange 15, as indicated in Fig'. 8.

'Removably embedded within the rail-support 13 is a plate 16, of insulating material, and

below this plate 16 is a plate 17. likewise of insulating' material. Between these two plates and supported thereby is the live wii'c 18,

Disposed along the track are pockets 19 in the rail-suiiiport 13, and mounted within these pockets are contact-levers 20, each pivoted directly upon the wire 18 and free to i'ock relatively thereto. Each contact-lever '2O is provided with an armature 2l and with a contact-point Q2, which engages the rail-section 23 whenever the arinatureZl rises. 'lhe several i'ail-sections Q3 ai'e normally dead` but become energized successively, owing' to the engagement therewith of the contact-points A plate 21, of insulating' material, is placed directly over each contact-lever 20,as indicated in Figs. T, S, and 9.

A number of magnets 25 26, preferably otl the horseshoe form, but which may have any other desired form, ai'e carried by the car 9. For convenience these magnets are mounted upon a yoke 2T and depend vfrom the same. '.lhis yoke cai'i'ies a block 28 of insulating niaterial, upon which is mounted the contacta brush 29. Another block, 28, of insulating' material and provided with a contact-brush 29", is mounted upon this yoke Q7. Tires Al5 46 are used for energizing the several magnets, which are preferably connected in series.

'lhe car-body 9 is supplied with legs 3() 3l depending therefrom, the. legs having vertical slots 32 disposed adjacent to their lower ends, as indicated more particularly in Fig. l. Plungers 33 31- are inovably mounted within the lower endsof the legs 3l) 3l, which are accordingly made hollow to receive the plungei's, as indicated in Fig. el. Coil-springs` 35 36 engage the plungers 33 'l-l. 'lhe plunger 3l is provided with a pin al passing directly thi'ough the slot 32, this pin having' a vertical play not exceeding the vertical measurement ofthe slot Bearing-brackets 37 38 are integrally connected with the plungers 33 34. these bearingbrackets being' free to move slightly with relation tothe legs 30 31. A shaft 40 is revolubly mounted within the bear ing-brackets 37 38, this shaft being normally pressed toward the left, as seen in Fig. 4, by means of a spiral spring' 39, provided for the purpose. The trolley-wheel is shown at 42 and is engaged by the contact-brush 29, from which the current is supplied through the wire 4l to the motor mechanism of the car in the usual manner. The insulating-block 28 carries the wire 47, which is connected with the brush 29a. The brushes 29 and 29 are connected together by a wire 30a. By means of the wires 45 and 46 the magnets may be energized by any suitable source of electricity, such asa storage-battery carried by a car, or may be shunted directly from the main circuit, as desired.

The operation of my device is as follows: The magnets 25 26 being energized and the car 9 being in motion, as soon as any one ofthe magnets approaches one of the contact-levers 2O the latter rises into the position indicated in Fig. 8. As there is a magnetic iield around the poles of each magnet, the contact-levers 2O will rise even if the magnet be not directed over the same, the armature 21 rising in the proximate direction of the magnet or magnets immediately over the contact-lever. The magnets are sufficiently near each other, as indicated in Fig. 2, to maintain the contactlever in its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 8, until the entire series of magnets has passed over it. The several rail-sections 23 are normally dead.; but each time the car passes one of these rail-sections the magnets cause one or more of the contact-levers 20 to rise, and thereby energize the rail-section. Should it happen that the magnets cover parts of two adjacent rail-sections, both sections are energized. The series of magnets is of such length that at least one ofV the armatures 2l is always energized, so that at least one of the contact-levers 2O presses its contact member 22 against a rail-section 23. Electric energy is therefore supplied continuously to the car as the same moves along from one railsection to the other.

By the means above described the track from one of its ends to the other is comparatively safe to life and property, the current being supplied only where it is needed. A person stepping upon a rail-section 23 at a point elsewhere than under the car is in no danger.

I do not limit myself to the particular form of mechanism above described, for the reason that various modifications of the same will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art and various departures may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a third rail, the combination of a railsupport of insulating material provided with pockets, a continuous feed wire extending through said rail-support in the general direction of its length, plates of insulating material mounted within said rail-support and disposed respectively above and below said feed-wire so as to support the same, contactlevers mounted upon said wire and movable relatively thereto, said contact-levers being provided with armatures and with contactpoints, conducting members to be engaged by said contact-points, trolley mechanism for engaging said contact members, and magnetic mechanism for attracting said armatures.

2. The combination of a continuous member of insulating material provided with pockets and with a continuous channel, a pair of plates mounted within said channel, one of said plates being superposed upon the other, acontinuous conductor extending through said channel and disposed betweensaid plates so as to be supported thereby, contact-levers disposed within said poclets and mounted upon said continuous conductor so as to be free to rock, said contact-levers being provided with armatures and with contact-points, magnetic mechanism for attracting said armatures, and contact members to be engaged by said contact-levers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specilication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' LEQNARD TRACY CRABTREE.

Vitnesses:

ALMoN SMITH, H. P. KEITH 

